Columns
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Triumph’s Joan Rivers
When Karmann face-lifted the Triumph TR4 in 1968, there were still some arthritic old bones behind the TR6’s wide smile and smooth skin The age of the biplane fighter lasted from roughly 1915 to 1941, by which time the last of the fabric-covered, fixed-gear aircraft like the Gloster Gladiator and Fiat CR42 were looking quite…
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Something Old, Something New
It’s been nearly ten years since I last drove in the California Mille. Dodge was the primary sponsor then, and I enjoyed the Northern California countryside from behind the wheel of a Viper. After growing up driving Alfas, with their puny 4-cylinder, 80-ci engines, mashing the throttle on a 450-horsepower, 488-ci V10 rocket sled was…
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1964 Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus Deluxe
VW won the hearts of collectors. The best first-generation Ford Econoline would be hard pressed to bring $10k, even with $5k in pennies in the back The Type 2, as its name suggests, was the second variant of the VW Beetle (Type 1), using the same running gear, and was introduced in 1950. Multiple types,…
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1934 Auburn 1250 Salon Cabriolet
Even at $253,000, this car is still less than half the price of some Packard V12 Cabriolets {vsig}2009-7_2340{/vsig} This 1934 Auburn 1250 Salon Cabriolet was driven by James Cagney in the 1930s film “The Mayor of Hell.” It was restored over 20 years ago, and it’s been certified by the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club, which…
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1968 Lotus 51R
Even if another road racer comes along claiming to be the Flower Power car, this one wears the right chassis and registration numbers {vsig}2009-7_2346{/vsig} Formula Ford was introduced in Great Britain in 1967 as a new form of poor man’s motor racing. Written into its regulations was the requirement for commercially built FFs to be…
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1999 Ferrari 355 F1 Spider
A 3.5-liter V8 with titanium rods, five-valve cylinder heads, and a 180-degree crankshaft gave 380 hp at 8,500 rpm In the 1970s, Ferrari changed the Berlinetta formula from two-passenger front-engine V12s to a mid-engine V8, with the introduction of the 308 GT. This basic formula evolved over the years as technology advanced, but it took…
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1961 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II Ex-Donald Healey
Graham Robson remembers the car in BMC’s U.K. press fleet, but there’s no mention of Donald Healey having a Mk II as “a personal car” Introduced in 1961, the Mk II version of Austin-Healey’s highly successful 3000 model was visually distinguished by its vertical radiator grille bars and revised front air intake. Sharing the same…
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1905 Gardner-Serpollet 18hp Type L Steamer
A growing audience is succumbing to the lure of early steamers, resulting in some remarkable transactions {vsig}2009-7_2342{/vsig} When eccentric collector George Milligen died in 2004, his family kept one of his cars when the others were sold. Five years later, they have decided to sell George’s 1905 Gardner-Serpollet Type L steam car, only one of…
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Nethercutt Slander Suit Fizzles
To rub salt in the wound, the appellate court rejected the Plaintiff’s arguments that he should get a new trial A few years ago, I was in Los Angeles for a professional conference and had a free day, so I visited the Nethercutt Museum in nearby Sylmar. The museum is owned and operated by The…
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Ferrari: The Myth of Low Miles
Columns beget further columns, and my June story, “When 25 Miles Doesn’t Matter,” which dealt with an Enzo that had crossed the magic 1,000-mile mark, resulted in a flurry of emails regarding the desirability vs. the perils of ultra-low-mile Ferraris. I’m amazed at how many would-be Ferrari buyers have an odometer fetish, a Freudian pursuit…